Frequency converter system

• US 20020177996A1
• Filed: 05/21/2002
• Published: 11/28/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 10/12/1994
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Pixel Instruments Corporation
• Original Assignee: Pixel Instruments Corporation
• Inventors: Cooper, J. Carl, Anderson, Steve
• Granted Patent: US 6,973,431 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 704/205
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 21/04 Time compression or expansion
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 20/00007 Time or data compression or expansion audio compression based on psychoacoustics G10L19/00; data processing for reproducing audio data at different playback speeds G10L21/04; video compression H04N19/00; data compression per se H03M7/30
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/662 using a time/frequency relationship, e.g. time compression or expansion
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4126 The peripheral being portable, e.g. PDAs or mobile phones
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4147 PVR [Personal Video Recorder] H04N5/76 takes precedence ; arrangements for broadcast with accumulation-type receivers H04H20/40
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42204 User interfaces specially adapted for controlling a client device through a remote control device; Remote control devices therefor constructive details of casings for the remote control device H01H9/0235; user interfaces for controlling a tuning device of a television receiver through a remote control H03J9/00; remote control of peripheral devices connected to a television receiver through the remote control device of the television receiver H04B1/205
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42209 for displaying non-command information, e.g. electronic program guide [EPG], e-mail, messages or a second television channel
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42222 Additional components integrated in the remote control device, e.g. timer, speaker, sensors for detecting position, direction or movement of the remote control, microphone or battery charging device
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42227 the keys being reprogrammable, e.g. soft keys
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/426 Internal components of the client ; Characteristics thereof H04N5/44 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4316 for displaying supplemental content in a region of the screen, e.g. an advertisement in a separate window
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4331 Caching operations, e.g. of an advertisement for later insertion during playback
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4333 Processing operations in response to a pause request
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47 End-user applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47214 for content reservation or setting reminders; for requesting event notification, e.g. of sport results or stock market stock exchange data over packet-switching network H04L12/1804; push services over packet-switching network H04L12/1859; notification of incoming messages in packet switching networks H04L51/224
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/482 End-user interface for program selection broadcast systems using EPGs H04H60/72
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/485 End-user interface for client configuration
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/76 Television signal recording
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/775 between a recording apparatus and a television receiver
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/783 Adaptations for reproducing at a rate different from the recording rate
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/8042 : involving data reduction

Abstract

An apparatus and method is disclosed for converting an input signal having frequency related information sustained over a first duration of time into an output signal sustained over a second duration of time at substantially the same first frequency by adding or subtracting to the effective wave length of the output signal. Preferably, the signals are converted in digital form with samples added or subtracted to frequency convert the signal.

Claims

1. A method of converting an input signal having frequency related information reproduced over a first time period to an output signal having substantially the same frequency related information reproduced over a second, different time period, said method comprising determining the ratio between the second time period and first time period and then altering the alpha length of the output signal by said ratio.

2. The method of claim 1 characterized in that altering the alpha length of the output signal includes digitally sampling one of the input or output signal and then modifying the number of samples of the digitally sampled signal.

3. The method of claim 2 characterized in that at least said number of samples is stored in a memory.

4. The method of claim 3 characterized in that the number of samples are modified prior to storage in memory.

5. The method of claim 3 characterized in that the number of samples are modified after storage in memory.

6. The method of claim 3 wherein at least said number of samples are stored in a memory having a limited value and characterized by the addition of a resetting of the memory upon the comparison of two signals.

7. The method of claim 6 characterized in that the output signal is compared to the input signal to trigger resetting.

8. The method of claim 6 characterized in that at least said number of samples is stored in two memories having outputs and reset areas, one of which is active for modifying the number of samples, with said resetting of the memories including switching from the active memory to the reset area in the inactive memory.

9. The method of claim 8 characterized in that the output of the inactive memory is compared to the active memory to trigger resetting.

10. The method of claim 6 characterized in that said switching includes a time fade.

11. The method of claim 1 whereof the output signal needs to be synchronized with associated channel and characterized by altering the alpha length of the output signal to also synchronize it to the associated channel.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 characterized in that said means for altering the alpha length of the output signal includes means for digitally sampling one of the input or output signal and means for modifying the number of samples of the digitally sampled signal.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 characterized by the addition of means for storing at least said number of samples in a memory.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 characterized in that the number of samples are modified prior to storage in memory.

16. The apparatus of claim 14 characterized in that the number of samples are modified after storage in memory.

17. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein at least said number of samples are stored in a memory having a limited value and characterized by the addition of a means for resetting of memory upon the comparison of two signals.

18. The apparatus of claim 17 characterized in that the output signal is compared to the input signal to trigger resetting.

19. The apparatus of claim 17 characterized by the addition of means to store at least said number of samples in two memories having outputs and reset areas, one of which is active for modifying the number of samples, with said means for resetting the memories including means for switching from the active memory to the reset area of the inactive memory.

20. The apparatus of claim 17 characterized in that an output of the inactive memory is compared to the active memory to trigger resetting.

21. The apparatus of claim 17 characterized in that said means for switching includes a time fade.

22. The method of claim 12 whereof the output signal needs to be synchronized with an associated channel and characterized by said means for altering the alpha length of the output signal including means to synchronize it to the associated channel.

24. The method of claim 23 wherein the associated channel includes a synchronization pulse and characterized by the determination of the time differential includes the synchronization pulse.

25. The method of claim 23 characterized in that altering the alpha length of the signal includes digitally sampling one of the input or output signal and then modifying the number of samples of the digitally sampled signal.

26. The method of claim 25 characterized in that at least said number of samples is stored in a memory.

27. The method of claim 25 wherein at least said number of samples are stored in a memory having a limited value and characterized by the addition of a resetting of the memory upon the comparison of two signals.

28. The method of claim 25 wherein the second signal is a stored signal normally reproduced over a timer period differing from real time and the altering the alpha length of the signal includes compensating for the difference between the time period and real time.

30. The apparatus of claim 29 wherein the associated channel includes a synchronization pulse and characterized by the means for determining the time differential includes means to recognize the synchronization pulse.

31. The apparatus of claim 29 characterized in that means for altering the alpha length of the signal includes means for digitally sampling one of the input or output signal and means for modifying the number of samples of the digitally sampled signal.

32. The apparatus of claim 31 characterized in that at least said number of samples is stored in a memory.

33. The apparatus of claim 31 wherein at least said number of samples are stored in a memory having a limited value and characterized by the addition of means for resetting of the memory upon the comparison of two signals.

34. The apparatus of claim 23 wherein the second signal is a stored signal normally reproduced over a time period differing from real time and said means for altering the alpha length of the signal including means for compensating for the difference between the time period and real time.

36. The method of claim 35 characterized in that the input signal is clocked relative to an input clock and the output signal is clocked relative to an output clock and characterized by the addition of clocking the input signal with the output clock prior to said oversampling.

37. The method of claim 35 characterized in that the input signal is clocked relative to an input clock and the output signal is clocked relative to an output clock and characterized by the addition of clocking the first set of digital samples relative to the output clock prior to said modification in the signal modification circuit.

38. The method of claim 35 characterized in that the input signal is clocked relative to an input clock and the output signal is clocked relative to an output clock and characterized by the addition of clocking said second set of digital samples relative to the output clock prior to said converting.

39. The method of claim 35 characterized in that altering the alpha length of the output signal includes digitally sampling one of the input or output signal and then modifying the number of samples of the digitally sampled signal.

40. The method of claim 39 characterized in that at least said number of samples is stored in a memory.

41. The method of claim 40 wherein at least said number of samples are stored in a memory having a limited value and characterized by the addition of a resetting of the memory upon the comparison of two signals.

42. The method of claim 41 characterized in that at least said number of samples is stored in two memories having outputs and reset areas, one of which is active for modifying the number of samples, with said resetting of the memories including switching from the active memory to the reset area of the inactive memory.

43. The method of claim 42 characterized in that there is a first modification circuit associated with one of the memories and a second signal modification circuit associated with the other of the memories and characterized by the additional step of cross fading between the output of the first signal modification circuit and the second signal modification circuit.

44. The method of claim 42 characterized in that the output of said first modification circuit is compared to said output of said second modification circuit to trigger resetting.

45. The method of claim 35 whereof the output signal needs to be synchronized with associated channel and characterized by altering the alpha length of the output signal to also synchronize it to the associated channel.

47. The apparatus of claim 46 characterized in that the input signal is clocked relative to an input clock and the output signal is clocked relative to an output clock and characterized by the addition of means to clock the input signal with the output clock prior to said oversampling.

48. The apparatus of claim 46 characterized in that the input signal is clocked relative to an input clock and the output signal is clocked relative to an output clock and characterized by the addition of means to clock the first set of digital samples relative to the output clock prior to said modification in the signal modification circuit.

49. The apparatus of claim 46 characterized in that the input signal is clocked relative to an input clock and the output signal is clocked relative to an output clock and characterized by the addition of means to clock said second set of digital samples relative to the output clock prior to said converting.

50. The apparatus of claim 46 characterized in that said means for altering the alpha length of the output signal includes means to digitally sampling one of the input or output signals and means to modify the number of samples of the digitally sampled signal.

51. The apparatus of claim 46 characterized in that at least said number of samples is stored in a memory.

52. The apparatus of claim 51 wherein at least said number of samples are stored in a memory having a limited value and characterized by the addition of means for resetting of the memory upon the comparison of two signals.

53. The apparatus of claim 52 characterized in that at least said number of samples is stored in two memories having outputs and reset areas, one of which is active for modifying the number of samples, with said means for resetting of the memories including means to change over from the active memory to the reset area of the inactive memory.

54. The apparatus of claim 53 characterized in that there is a first modification circuit associated with one of the memories and a second signal modification circuit associated with the other of the memories and characterized by the additional step of means for cross fading between the output of the first signal modification circuit and the second signal modification circuit.

55. The apparatus of claim 53 characterized in that the output of said first modification circuit is compared to said output of said second modification circuit to trigger resetting.

56. The apparatus of claim 46 whereof the output signal needs to be synchronized with associated channel and characterized by said means for altering the alpha length of the output signal including means to synchronize it to the associated channel.

58. The method of claim 57 wherein the memory includes a single RAM memory array.

59. The method of claim 57 wherein the memory includes two RAM memory arrays.

60. The method of claim 57 wherein the first signal has an alpha length and wherein utilizing said first signal for producing an output signal including a modification circuit that modifies the alpha length of said first signal to produce the output signal.

61. The method of claim 57 wherein the second signal has an alpha length and wherein utilizing said second signal for producing an output signal including a modification circuit that modified the alpha length of said second signal to produce the output signal.

62. The method of claim 60 wherein the alpha length is compressed and characterized in that said first signal is reset to the beginning of the memory.

63. The method of claim 60 wherein the alpha length is contracted and characterized in that said first signal is reset to the end of the memory.

64. The method of claim 61 wherein the alpha length is compressed and characterized in that said second signal is reset to the beginning of the memory.

65. The method of claim 61 wherein the alpha length is contracted and characterized in that said second signal is reset to the end of the memory.

66. The method of claim 57 wherein said two signals compared for similarity includes said first and said second signals.

67. The method of claim 57 wherein said two signals compared for similarity include the input and output signal.

69. The apparatus of claim 68 wherein the memory includes a single RAM memory array.

70. The apparatus of claim 68 wherein the memory includes two RAM memory lines.

71. The apparatus of claim 68 wherein the first signal has an alpha length and wherein said means for utilizing said first signal for producing an output signal includes a modification circuit means that modifies the alpha length of said first signal to produce the output signal.

72. The apparatus of claim 68 wherein the second signal has an alpha length and wherein said means for utilizing said second signal for producing an output signal includes a modification circuit means that modifies the alpha length of said second signal to produce the output signal.

73. The apparatus of claim 71 wherein the alpha length is compressed and characterized by means to reset said first signal to the beginning of the memory.

74. The apparatus of claim 71 wherein the alpha length is contracted and characterized by means to reset said first signal to the end of the memory.

75. The apparatus of claim 72 wherein the alpha length is compressed and characterized by means to reset said second signal to the beginning of the memory.

76. The apparatus of claim 72 wherein the alpha length is contracted and characterized by means to reset said second signal to the end of the memory.

77. The apparatus of claim 68 wherein said two signals compared for similarity includes said first and said second signals.

78. The apparatus of claim 68 wherein said two signals compared for similarity include the input and output signal.

80. The method of claim 79 characterized in that the output signal is reproduced over a different time period than the input signal and said determining the ratio between the second frequency and first frequency includes comparing the time period of reproduction of the output signal to the time period of reproduction of the input signal in order to provide an output signal having the same frequency related information as the input signal now reproduced over a second different time period.

81. The method of claim 79 wherein the input signal has frequency information to be synchronized to a second signal on an associated channel and characterized by the addition os determining the time differential of synchronization between the input signal and the second signal on the associated channel and then using said time differntial in determining the ratio between the second frequency and the first frequency so as to synchronize the output signal to the second signal.

82. The method of claim 1 wherein the input signal is an intermittent signal and characterized by the addition of altering the intermittent input signal into a substantially continuous output signal.

83. The method of claim 1 wherein the method is utilized to transfer a signal over a lower bandwidth transfer or storage means and characterized by the addition of passing the output signal over the lower bandwidth transfer or storage means,

determining the ratio between the second time period and the time period of a desired signal,

and then altering the alpha length of the output signal by said ratio to produce a desired signal.

84. The method of claim 83 wherein the input signal is an intermittent signal and characterized by the addition of altering the intermittent input signal into a substantially continuous output signal.

85. The method of claim 1 wherein the input signal is a continuous signal and characterized by the addition of altering the continuous input signal into an intermittent output signal.

86. The method of claim 1 wherein the altering of the alpha length of the output signal by said ratio occurs in real time.

87. The method of claim 1 characterized in that altering the alpha length of the output signal by said ratio includes digital sampling at a clocking rate and changing the digital sampling and clocking rate of the output signal in respect to those of the input signal.

88. The method of claim 1 characterized by the addition of also determining the output frequency and the input frequency, determining the output frequency time product and the input frequency time product, determining the difference ratio by dividing the output frequency time product by the input frequency time product, and altering the alpha length of the output signal by said difference ratio.

89. The method of claim 1 characterized by the addition of deleting blocks of signal information from the input signal.

90. The method of claim 1 characterized by the addition of storing the input signal and adding blocks of signal information to the input signal.

91. The method of claim 6 characterized in that the resetting occurs during periods of no substantive signal information on either of the two signals.

92. The method of claim 6 characterized in that the resetting occurs during periods of substantially identical signal information on either of the two signals.

93. The method of claim 6 characterized in that at least one of said two signals is selected from a plurality of signals.

94. The method of claim 6 characterized in that said comparison utilizes at least one of look forward and look back comparisons to optimize the comparison with time displaced information as well as current signal status.

95. The method of claim 1 characterized in that the input signal is referenced to a first clock rate and the output signal is referenced to a second clock rate and said first clock rate being different than said second clock rate.

96. The method of claim 1 characterized in that the input signal is scanned from a storage medium and altering the alpha length of the output signal includes controlling the scanning of the input signal from the storage medium.

97. The method of claim 1 characterized by the addition of the output signal being recorded at variable rates and the determining the ratio between the second time period and the first time period including compensating for the variable rates of output signal recording.

98. The method of claim 6 characterized in that said resetting is gradual.

99. The method of claim 6 characterized in that said two signals are compared by slope and instantaneous amplitude.

100. The method of claim 23 characterized in that there are multiple signals timed relative to the same time reference, which multiple signals may or may not be synchronized at any point in actual time, and said method further including determining the time differential between said multiple signals and altering the alpha length of at least one of the multiple signals to resynchronize said multiple signals.

101. The apparatus of claim 12 wherein the input signal is an intermittent signal and characterized by the addition of means for altering the intermittent input signal into a substantially continuous output signal.

102. The apparatus of claim 12 wherein the apparatus is utilized to transfer a signal over a lower bandwidth transfer or storage means and characterized by the addition of means for passing the output signal over the lower bandwidth transfer or storage means,

means for determining the ratio between the second time period and the time period of a desired signal,

and means for altering the alpha length of the output signal by said ratio to produce a desired signal.

103. The apparatus of claim 102 wherein the input signal is an intermittent signal and characterized by the addition of means for altering the intermittent input signal into a substantially continuous output signal.

104. The apparatus of claim 12 wherein the input signal is a continuous signal and characterized by the addition of means for altering the continuous input signal into an intermittent output signal.

105. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said means for altering of the alpha length of the output signal by said ratio operates in real time.

106. The apparatus of claim 1 characterized in that said means for altering the alpha length of the output signal by said ratio includes a digital sampling means that operates at a clocking rate and means for changing the digital sampling and clocking rate of the output signal in respect to those of the input signal.

107. The apparatus of claim 1 characterized by the addition of means for determining the output frequency and the input frequency, means for determining the output frequency time product and the input frequency time product, means for determining the difference ratio by dividing the output frequency time product by the input frequency time product, and means for altering the alpha length of the output signal by said difference ratio.

108. The apparatus of claim 1 characterized by the addition of means for deleting blocks of signal information from the input signal.

109. The apparatus of claim 1 characterized by the addition of means for storing the input signal and means for adding blocks of signal information to the input signal.

110. The apparatus of claim 17 characterized in that said means for resetting operates during periods of no substantive signal information on either of the two signals.

111. The apparatus of claim 17 characterized in that said means for resetting operates during periods of substantially identical signal information on either of the two signals.

112. The apparatus of claim 17 characterized by the addition of means to select at least one of said two signals from a plurality of signals.

113. The apparatus of claim 17 characterized in that said comparison means includes at least one of look forward comparison means and look back comparison means to optimize the comparison with time displaced information as well as current signal status.

114. The apparatus of claim 1 characterized in that the input signal is referenced to a first clock rate and the output signal is referenced to a second clock rate and said first clock rate being different than said second clock rate.

115. The apparatus of claim 1 characterized by the addition of means to scan the input signal from a storage medium and said means for altering the alpha length of the output signal including means for controlling the scanning of the input signal from the storage medium.

116. The apparatus of claim 1 characterized by the addition of means to record the output signal at variable rates and said means for determining the ratio between the second time period and the first time period including means for compensating for the variable rates of output signal recording.

117. The apparatus of claim 17 characterized in that said means for resetting of memory operates gradually.

118. The apparatus of claim 17 characterized in that said means for resetting of memory compares said two signals by slope and instantaneous amplitude.

119. The apparatus of claim 29 characterized in that there are multiple signals timed relative to the same time reference, which multiple signals may or may not be synchronized at any point in actual time, and said apparatus further including means for determining the time differential between said multiple signals and means for altering the alpha length of at least one of the multiple signals to resynchronize said multiple signals.

120. The method of claim 35 wherein the input signal is an intermittent signal and characterized by the addition of altering the intermittent input signal into a substantially continuous output signal.

121. The method of claim 35 wherein the method is utilized to transfer a signal over a lower bandwidth transfer or storage means and characterized by the addition of passing the output signal over the lower bandwidth transfer or storage means,

determining the ratio between the second time period and the time period of a desired signal,

and then altering the alpha length of the output signal by said ratio to produce a desired signal.

122. The method of claim 121 wherein the input signal is an intermittent signal and characterized by the addition of altering the intermittent input signal into a substantially continuous output signal.

123. The method of claim 35 wherein the input signal is a continuous signal and characterized by the addition of altering the continuous input signal into an intermittent output signal.

124. The method of claim 35 wherein the altering of the alpha length of the output signal by said difference ratio in said signal modification circuit occurs in real time.

125. The method of claim 35 characterized in that altering the alpha length of the output signal by said difference ratio in said signal modification circuit includes digital sampling at a clocking rate and changing the digital sampling and clocking rate of the output signal in respect to those of the input signal.

126. The method of claim 35 characterized by the addition of also determining the output frequency and the input frequency, determining the output frequency time product and the input frequency time product, and determining the difference ratio by dividing the output frequency time product by the input frequency time product.

127. The method of claim 35 characterized by the addition of deleting blocks of signal information from the input signal.

128. The method of claim 36 characterized by the addition of storing the input signal and adding blocks of signal information to the input signal.

129. The method of claim 41 characterized in that the resetting occurs during periods of no substantive signal information on either of the two signals.

130. The method of claim 41 characterized in that the resetting occurs during periods of substantially identical signal information on either of the two signals.

131. The method of claim 41 characterized in that at least one of said two signals is selected from a plurality of signals.

132. The method of claim 41 characterized in that said comparison utilizes at least one of look forward and look back comparisons to optimize the comparison with time displaced information as well as current signal status.

133. The method of claim 35 characterized in that the input signal is referenced to a first clock rate and the output signal is referenced to a second clock rate and said first clock rate being different than said second clock rate.

134. The method of claim 35 characterized in that the input signal is scanned from a storage medium and altering the alpha length of the output signal includes controlling the scanning of the input signal from the storage medium.

135. The method of claim 35 characterized by the addition of the output signal being recorded at variable rates and the determining the ratio between the second time period and the first time period including compensating for the variable rates of output signal recording.

136. The method of claim 41 characterized in that said resetting is gradual.

137. The method of claim 41 characterized in that said two signals are compared by slope and instantaneous amplitude.

138. The apparatus of claim 46 wherein the input signal is an intermittent signal and characterized by the addition of means for altering the intermittent input signal into a substantially continuous output signal.

139. The apparatus of claim 46 wherein the apparatus is utilized to transfer a signal over a lower bandwidth transfer or storage means and characterized by the addition of means for passing the output signal over the lower bandwidth transfer or storage means,

means for determining the ratio between the second time period and the time period of a desired signal,

and means for altering the alpha length of the output signal by said ratio to produce a desired signal.

140. The apparatus of claim 139 wherein the input signal is an intermittent signal and characterized by the addition of means for altering the intermittent input signal into a substantially continuous output signal.

141. The apparatus of claim 46 wherein the input signal is a continuous signal and characterized by the addition of means for altering the continuous input signal into an intermittent output signal.

142. The apparatus of claim 46 wherein said means for altering of the alpha length of the output signal by said ratio operates in real time.

143. The apparatus of claim 46 characterized in that said means for altering the alpha length of the output signal by said ratio includes a digital sampling means that operates at a clocking rate and means for changing the digital sampling and clocking rate of the output signal in respect to those of the input signal.

144. The apparatus of claim 46 characterized by the addition of means for determining the output frequency and the input frequency, means for determining the output frequency time product and the input frequency time product, and means for determining the difference ratio by dividing the output frequency time product by the input frequency time product.

145. The apparatus of claim 46 characterized by the addition of means for deleting blocks of signal information from the input signal.

146. The apparatus of claim 46 characterized by the addition of means for storing the input signal and means for adding blocks of signal information to the input signal.

147. The apparatus of claim 52 characterized in that said means for resetting operates during periods of no substantive signal information on either of the two signals.

148. The apparatus of claim 52 characterized in that said means for resetting operates during periods of substantially identical signal information on either of the two signals.

149. The apparatus of claim 52 characterized by the addition of means to select at least one of said two signals from a plurality of signals.

150. The apparatus of claim 52 characterized in that said comparison means includes at least one of look forward comparison means and look back comparison means to optimize the comparison with time displaced information as well as current signal status.

151. The apparatus of claim 46 characterized in that the input signal is referenced to a first clock rate and the output signal is referenced to a second clock rate and said first clock rate being different than said second clock rate.

152. The apparatus of claim 46 characterized by the addition of means to scan the input signal from a storage medium and said means for altering the alpha length of the output signal including means for controlling the scanning of the input signal from the storage medium.

153. The apparatus of claim 46 characterized by the addition of means to record the output signal at variable rates and said means for determining the ratio between the second time period and the first time period including means for compensating for the variable rates of output signal recording.

154. The apparatus of claim 52 characterized in that said means for resetting of memory operates gradually.

155. The apparatus of claim 52 characterized in that said means for resetting of memory compares said two signals by slope and instantaneous amplitude.

12. An apparatus for converting an input signal having frequency related information reproduced over a first time period to an output signal having substantially the same frequency related information reproduced over a second, different time period, said apparatus comprising means for determining the ratio between the second time period and first time period and means for altering the alpha length of the output signal by said ratio.

23. A method of synchronizing a signal having frequency related information timed relative to a first time reference to a second signal on an associated channel timed relative to the same time reference which signal may or may not be synchronized to the second signal at any point in actual time,

said method comprising determining the time differential between the signal and the second signal on the associated channel and then altering the alpha length of the signal in response to time differential.

29. An apparatus of synchronizing a signal having frequency related information timed relative to a first time reference to a second signal on an associated channel timed relative to the same time reference which signal may or may not be synchronized to the second signal at any point in actual time,

said apparatus comprising means for determining the time differential between the signal and the second signal on the associated channel and means for altering the alpha length of the signal in response to time differential.

35. A method of converting an input signal having frequency related information reproduced over a first time period to an output signal having substantially the same frequency related information reproduced over a second, different time period,

said method comprising getting an input signal, over sampling said input signal through an over sampling digital coding scheme device to produce a first set of digital samples,

determining the ratio between the second time period and the first time period, modifying said first set of said digital samples in a signal modification circuit in accord with said difference ratio to produce a second set of digital samples,

converting said second set of digital samples to produce an output signal having an alpha length altered in the signal modification circuit by said difference ratio, and remitting said output signal.

46. An apparatus for converting an input signal having frequency related information-reproduced over a first time period to an output signal having substantially the same frequency related information reproduced over a second, different time period,

said apparatus comprising means to get an input signal, means for over sampling said input signal through an over sampling digital coding scheme device to produce a first set of digital samples,

means for determining the ratio between the second time period and the first time period, means for modifying said first set of said digital samples in a signal modification circuit in accord with said difference ratio to produce a second set of digital samples,

means for converting said second set of digital samples to produce an output signal having an alpha length altered in the signal modification circuit by said difference ratio, and remitting said output signal.

57. A method for increasing the apparent delay length of a memory having a beginning and an end, said method comprising:

A) inputting an input signal into the memory,

B) utilizing the memory to produce first and second signals from a location, position, or point which may include the beginning and the end of the memory respectively,

C) utilizing said first signal for producing an output signal for a first period of time traversing the memory from a reset area while simultaneously comparing two signals,

D) changing over to utilizing said second signal for producing the output signal when said two signals are similar, said second signal beginning in said reset area,

E) utilizing said second signal for producing an output signal for a second period of time traversing the memory from a reset area while simultaneously comparing said two signals for similarity,

F) changing over to utilizing said first signal for producing an output signal when said two signals have similar signal shape, said first signal beginning in said reset area,

G) then repeating steps C to F so as to change the apparent delay length of the memory.

68. A apparatus for increasing the apparent delay length of a memory having a beginning and an end, said apparatus comprising:

A) means for inputting an input signal into the memory,

B) means for utilizing the memory to produce first and second signals from a location, position, or point which may include the beginning and the end of the memory respectively,

C) means for utilizing said first signal for producing an output signal for a first period of time traversing the memory from a reset area while simultaneously comparing two signals,

D) means for changing over to utilizing said second signal for producing the output signal when said two signals are similar, said second signal beginning in said reset area,

E) means for utilizing said second signal for producing an output signal for a second period of time traversing the memory from a reset area while simultaneously comparing said two signals for similarity, and

F) means for changing over to utilizing said first signal for producing an output signal when said two signals have similar signal shape, said first signal beginning in said reset area,

G) then repeating steps C to F so as to change the apparent delay length of the memory.

79. A method of converting an input signal having frequency related information reproduced over a first time period to an output signal having frequency related information reproduced over a second time period, said method comprising determining the ratio between the second frequency and first frequency and then altering the alpha length of the output signal by said ratio.